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Plastisphere and Soil Biodiversity
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This chapter reviews how discarded plastics accumulate in soil ecosystems and give rise to a distinct microbial community called the plastisphere, altering soil biodiversity and ecological function. The plastisphere can harbor novel microbial assemblages including potential pathogens and antibiotic-resistant organisms, meaning plastic soil pollution has implications beyond chemical toxicity for human and ecosystem health.
Discarded plastics are released into the environment via various pathways, many of which end up in the soil ecosystem. Soil acting as a natural sink, accumulate plastic wastes originating from different anthropogenic and natural activities. The larger plastics, under...
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Microplastics in Soil-Plant Systems
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This review synthesized evidence on microplastic contamination in terrestrial soil-plant systems, examining effects on soil structure, nutrient cycling, microbial communities, and plant uptake of plastic particles. Because plants can absorb microplastics and translocate them into edible tissue, agricultural soil contamination represents a direct and underappreciated pathway of human dietary exposure to plastic particles.
Microplastic in Soil Ecosystem: Transition and Ecological Impacts
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This review examined how microplastics transition through soil ecosystems, alter soil structure, affect microbial communities, and impact plant health and agricultural productivity. Soil microplastic contamination is a growing threat to food security because it degrades the biological systems that underpin crop growth while simultaneously introducing chemical additives into the root zone where they can be taken up by edible plants.
Plastic Pollution Impacting Soil Microflora: A Study Toward Agricultural Productivity
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Researchers examined how plastic pollution in soil disrupts microbial communities that are essential for healthy agricultural ecosystems, with growing evidence that microplastic contamination of farmland could reduce soil fertility and threaten food production.
Microplastics and Their Effects on Soil Function as a Life-Supporting System
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Microplastics alter essential soil functions by changing soil structure, water retention, microbial communities, and nutrient cycling in ways that threaten the life-supporting capacity of agricultural and natural soils. As terrestrial microplastic contamination continues to grow — exceeding ocean concentrations in many regions — the long-term health of soil ecosystems and food production is at risk.
Microplastics in Soil: An Emerging Threat
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Researchers reviewed the emerging problem of microplastic pollution in soil, tracing contamination to agricultural practices, industrial activities, and atmospheric deposition, and examining downstream risks to ecosystem health and human well-being.
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